WATCH: Breathtaking time-lapse video of the Milky Way in the Chilean sky

Photographer Nicholas Buer’s “Ancients” paints a stunning picture of some of the oldest and most distant objects in the galaxy.

Shooting in the Puna de Atacama region of northern Chile — a high, arid plateau known for possessing some of the darkest skies and clearest air on the planet — Buer captured the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies with exceptional clarity.

According to Slate’s Phil Plait, author of the site’s Bad Astronomy blog, “the Milky Way is much brighter and more detailed than you usually see in these video.”

Plait also provides detailed commentary about what celestial formations are being featured in the video. At the 30-second mark, Venus can be seen setting below the Milky Way’s “central bulge”; at the 55-second mark, the Magellanic Clouds make an appearance, the largest of which Buer zooms in at the 1:30-minute mark.

About the Author

Scott Eric Kaufman is the proprietor of the AV Club's Internet Film School and, in addition to Raw Story, also writes for Lawyers, Guns & Money. He earned a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of California, Irvine in 2008.